BAT GUANO HORROR STORY

It can be disgusting -- literally -- what other home inspectors miss during their "visual inspections!"

Andrew Christie, CET, RHI

In late Spring of 2008 we were invited to inspect a large century home north of Barrie.

Everything was going very well – no asbestos, no mold, no knob and tube wiring, beautiful structure – until I went into the attic. A deep layer of newer insulation had been placed over older insulation. I dug down through the insulation to see what was there and found an eight inch deep layer of bat guano; truly toxic stuff.

The current seller had an inspection carried out a year ago. The Standard Agreement provided by the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors clearly states that home inspectors provide a ‘visual’ inspection only. Presumably, last year’s inspector carried out only a ‘visual’ inspection.

As specialists in the assessment of century homes and cottages, we find that stipulation laughable. Old wood must be prodded to assess its solidity, whether it's part of a floor assembly or a window assembly. It is necessary to crawl all the way through crawlspaces and prod every member of wood with a knife. Similarly, we move a ladder around the home so every window can be fully checked, even in deepest winter.

So a ‘visual’ inspection does not cut the mustard. We must rise above the legalese to protect our buyers! You can’t be squeamish and be a good home inspector. Sometimes you have to go elbow deep in bat guano. We saved our buyer thousands of dollars.

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